1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions relate generally to methods and systems for tracking the presence, position and status of individual items, containers and the contents thereof, including locks and seals for such items and containers.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
When items are shipped over distances in sealed containers, boxes and other packaging (as most manufactured items are), a wide variety of problems can occur.
The five scenarios outlined below are illustrative of such problems.                1. The vendor ships the wrong item or no item;        2. The shipping company's employees or others having access during shipment remove some or all of the contents and reseal the package or container;        3. The return authorization and/or address to which returns must be sent is incorrectly understood or executed by the recipient;        4. The recipient claims (fraudulently) that the package delivered did not contain the item ordered;        5. The recipient (fraudulently) returns the package as though the ordered item were being returned, but the recipient keeps the ordered item and substitutes another similar but inauthentic item.        
Because the package or container conceals its contents, it is often difficult to determine just who has or should have both custody and responsibility when goods do go missing. Theft and fraud are difficult to detect, and a contention that there was nothing of value in a box is very difficult to defeat. Previous (and undesirable) solutions depended upon non-technical processes including bureaucratic hurdles, negotiation, investigation, intimidation and simple loss write-offs to deal with errors, theft and fraud in both ecommerce and mail order fulfillment as well as large and high value transactions involved in, for example, shipping containers between continents on ships.
Credit card fees charged to merchants include charges specifically intended to defray costs of lost merchandise where customers dispute charges. Since often no one can be found to take responsibility, the expense of such lost merchandise is written off as a cost of using credit cards. Many credit card companies specify an appeals process for a denied charge that imposes difficult, bureaucratic, and lengthy procedures on consumers. This is intended to deter denial of charges, whether justified or not.
Improved methods and systems for tracking packages and containers would help to mitigate these disadvantages and inefficiencies. Specifically, what are needed are methods and systems for tracking both the containers and the contents thereof, from the initial vendor, through the shipping process, until receipt and acceptance thereof by the ultimate buyer. Also needed are methods, devices and systems to seal and lock containers to prevent theft and fraud during transit.